CHAPTER 51: THE AFTERMATH OF SURVIVAL

Kael collapsed.

The sound wasn’t dramatic, neither was it cinematic. It was just a man falling to his knees, then to his side, the dust rising around him in a small, pathetic cloud.

Tatehan stood over him, sword still in hand, the blade dripping red onto the amphitheater floor. His chest heaved. His mind felt blank, like someone had wiped it clean of all thought except one:

What have I done?

Kael’s hand went to his chest, pressing against the wound. Blood seeped through his fingers, dark and thick, too much of it. His breathing came in short, ragged gasps. Each inhale sounded unnormal.

"Kael..." Tatehan’s voice broke. He dropped to his knees beside the man, the sword clattering to the ground. "I didn’t, I wasn’t trying to..."

But that was a lie, wasn’t it? He’d aimed for a critical hit. He’d wanted to stop Kael, to win, to survive. And now this was the result.

Kael’s eyes found Tatehan’s face. For a moment, the rage was gone. The hunger, the desperation, all of it had faded, leaving behind something Tatehan couldn’t quite name. Resignation, maybe. Or just exhaustion.

"Kid..." Kael’s voice was barely above a whisper. "You... you fought well."

"Don’t talk," Tatehan said quickly, his hands hovering uselessly over the wound. His Partial Regeneration didn’t work on others. He couldn’t fix this. He couldn’t undo this. "Just— just hold on. Maybe if we..."

"No." Kael coughed, and blood flecked his lips. "No holding on. This is... this is it."

Tatehan felt something crack inside his chest. This man had saved his life. Trained him (very short but it was something he considered really valuable). Shared his food, his shelter, his knowledge. And now he was dying because Tatehan had put a sword through him.

"I’m sorry," Tatehan whispered. The words felt hollow and worthless. "I’m so sorry."

Kael shook his head weakly. "Don’t be. I would have... killed you too, boy." He managed a faint, bitter smile. "Would’ve taken that core and... never looked back."

That should have made Tatehan feel better. It didn’t.

Kael’s breathing was getting shallower now. Each breath seemed to take more effort than the last. His hand fumbled at his belt, fingers trembling as they searched for something.

"Here..." He pulled out a folded piece of worn paper, pressing it into Tatehan’s hand. Their fingers touched, Kael’s were cold, getting colder. "Take it."

Tatehan unfolded the paper with shaking hands. It was a map, hand-drawn, with markings and notes scribbled in the margins. A route traced in faded ink. At the end of the route, a single word: HOME.

"My clan," Kael said, his voice growing fainter. "That’s where... where she is."

"Who?" Tatehan asked, though part of him already knew.

"My daughter." Kael’s eyes glistened, though whether from pain or something else, Tatehan couldn’t tell. "She’s... dying. Some disease the Martian air brought. We don’t have the... the medicine for it. But the Core..."

He coughed again, more blood.

"The Core has bio-neural energy. Could’ve powered... medical equipment. Could’ve saved her." His gaze found Tatehan’s again. "That’s why I... that’s why I needed it. Six months in that cave... six months watching the mauler, learning it, failing against it... all for her."

Tatehan felt like someone had reached into his chest and squeezed his heart. Hard.

"Kael, I—"

"Don’t." Kael’s voice was firm despite its weakness. "Don’t apologize again. You did... what you had to. Survival, kid. That’s all there is... out here. You survive, or you die. I taught you that... remember?"

Tatehan did remember. They’d talked about it in the cave, during their training sessions. Kael had been adamant: Mars didn’t care about your reasons, your morals, your guilt. Mars only cared if you were strong enough to survive it.

And now Kael was dying because he hadn’t been strong enough.

Or because Tatehan had been too strong.

"I wanted to hate you," Tatehan said quietly, the words spilling out before he could stop them. "When you tried to take the core, when you hurt me, I wanted to hate you. It would’ve made this easier."

Kael’s smile was sad. "But you don’t, do you?"

Tatehan shook his head. He couldn’t speak. His throat felt too tight.

"Good," Kael whispered. "That means... you’re not like me yet. Not completely." His breathing hitched. "Stay that way... as long as you can."

The silence that followed was heavy and oppressive. The only sound was Kael’s labored breathing and the distant whistle of Martian wind through the amphitheater ruins.

Then Kael spoke again, so quietly Tatehan almost missed it.

"Forgive... yourself, kid. For this. For whatever comes next." His eyes were starting to lose focus. "You’ll do... terrible things to survive. We all do. But don’t let it... don’t let it destroy you."

"Kael—"

"Survive, Tatehan." It was the first time Kael had used his actual name. "That’s all there is."

His hand went slack in Tatehan’s grip.

His chest stopped moving.

Kael was gone.

Tatehan sat there for a long time, holding the hand of a dead man, staring at nothing. The map was still clutched in his other hand, crumpled now from how tightly he’d been gripping it.

Eventually, he became aware of the blood. It was on his hands, his clothes, soaking into the knees of his pants where he’d knelt in the spreading pool. Kael’s blood. So much of it.

"I’m a monster," Tatehan whispered to the empty amphitheater.

The words echoed back to him, seemingly

mocking.

Tears now trickled down his face as he silently sobbed. Now, thinking about what he had done, caused him pain.

He looked down at the map in his hand. Then he looked up at the mauler’s corpse, at the translucent opening where the bio-neural core still glowed, waiting to be claimed.

The core. The mission. The spaceship that needed to be repaired. The AI waiting for him to return with the component that would restore a critical system. That was why he’d come here. That was what he’d fought for, bled for, nearly died for.

But now there was something else.

A daughter. Dying. Waiting for a father who would never come home.

A clan. People who would wonder what happened to Kael. People who might have been able to save him if Tatehan had made a different choice.

Tatehan stood slowly. His legs felt weak. His entire body felt heavy, like gravity had suddenly doubled.

[Congratulations host, you’ve killed a human (Your first!)]

Tatehan payed no notice to the notification, instead he walked to the mauler’s corpse and climbed up. His movements were automatic and empty. He reached the translucent opening and stared at the bio-neural core.

It was beautiful, in a strange way, glowing with soft a light. So small for something that had cost so much.

He could take it right now. Go back to the spaceship. Complete his mission. Move forward with his life and try to forget this ever happened.

Or.

He looked back at the map in his hand. At the route marked in fading ink. At the word HOME written at the end.

Tatehan stood there, frozen, torn between two futures.

The core glowed in front of him.

The map seemed burn in his hand even though it wasn’t really doing so.

And Kael’s blood slowly dried on his skin, a weight he knew he would carry forever.

He didn’t know what to choose. Should he take the bio neutral core to the Spaceship, or find Kael’s daughter and save her from dying.